Nonrefillable container



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 12, 1937. B. w. DENNIS NONREFIIJLABLE CONTAINER Filed Aug. 7. 1935 5 U 9 Z W M A /1//4 W r IllIllIIlIlllIlI/lllll vliz-Wl ATTO RN E Y S yar/hlm@ Jan.12,1937. y B WDENMS 2,067,600

NONREFILLABLE CONTAINER Filed Aug'. 7,*1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TORNE S Patented Jan. l2, 1937 FFIQE 7 Claims.

This application relates to containers and particularly to non-rellable containers and one way valves adapted to prevent refilling of the container and the insertion or substitution of any material other than that contained in the original package.

Prior to the present invention, numerous constructions and combinations have been proposed for the purpose of preventing the refilling of containers. At the present time this problem is of especial importance because of the large sale of liquids such as liquors, lubricating oils, etc., which either because of a demand for advertised brands, a relatively large spread between the costs of best quality and inferior materials, or because of taxes imposed upon the sale of these materials, offer temptations to refill the original containers with substituted maten rials and sell such substituted materials to the purchasing public, with reliance upon the genun ineness of the container and the trade marks attached thereto to avoid suspicion of substitution.

Notwithstanding the unquestioned importance of this fraudulent substituting, and-the insistent demand at the present time for a container which will prevent such substituting the problem remains unsolved and the prior suggestions of the art have not proven capableof preventing relling of bottles, or substitution in whole or in part of their contents.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a device which, without serious interference with the emptying of the bottle or other container, will prevent its being refilled or its contents substituted without such mutilation or destruction as will give notice to the purchaser that the bottle has been tampered with, and thus to provide a container which guarantees the genuineness of its contents not only before it is opened but equally if the contents are served from a partially emptied bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle or other container which is reii'ilable only after destruction of a part which bears a visible mark of genuineness, whereby the container may be made capable of reuse without danger of its being used to palm off materials which are not genuine.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention and certain modifications thereof. These have been chosen with a View of illustrating the invention and the principles thereof and instructing others in the utilization thereof so that the invention may be applied under varying conditions and circumstances, and it should be understood that these drawings are not limiting or exhaustive.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a bottle embodying my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken at right angles to Fig. l on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a top plan view of the guard at the mouth of the bottle shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 5 and G are fragmentary sectional views of modifications in the securing of guards into the mouth of the container.

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are views in longitudinal section similar to Fig. 1 of modified forms of my invention.

Fig. 10 is a View on enlarged scale of the latching parts shown in Fig. l.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, I have illustrated the top portion of a bottle i0 having a neck il. In the case illustrated, the neck is provided on its outside with screw threads i?. for engagement with a removable cap, but any other convenient closure may be used. For example, if a cork or other stopper is desired instead of the screv.7 top the neck of the bottle may be made longer, extending beyond the valve device suiciently for reception of the cork. Or by suitably dimensioning and shaping the neck and mouth of the bottle it may be adapted for any desired closure.

The inside of the neck or mouth is provided with shoulders I3, upon which is seated a casing it of the closure device of the present invention. This is the simplest and preferred mounting of my device. However, I may secure it to the mouth of the bottle in other ways, e. g., the entire valve device and closure may be cemented over or attached to and form a continuance of the neck of the bottle.

Above the casing i4 in the example shown in Fig. 1 the guard member I5 is secured in the mouth of the bottle by means of a lock washer, or other securing device which cannot be released from the outside without fracturing either the bottle or the guard l5, or, advantageously, by cementing or fusing.

The guard member advantageously includes a plurality of baiiies which cooperate to prevent the penetration of any instrument into the valve device for tampering therewith. For convenience in the filling and sealing of the containers these baffles are preferably made into a unit, e. g., as shown, by forming the outer guard member l as a glass cup with a perforated bottom and cementing or otherwise securing the baffles i6 and il in place within this cup.

The exposed parts i5 and l5 I make of glass or other equally hard material.

On the inner baffle Il a lip or rim I8 serves to catch any exible instrument if it should in any way be worked around the other bailies. As a nal precaution, which is not necessary with the other baffle members shown, a perforate or mesh screen disc l may be secured beneath the edge of the guard member l5.

The perforations, if used, in the member i5 may, as shown in Fig. li, be arranged in a design or letters to form a trade mark.

The center of the casing it forms a partition 2E! which divides the casing into an inner chamber open towards the interior of the bottle and an outer chamber1 open towards the mouth of the bottle. An aperture El is left in the partition 2t, this aperture being closed by a valve member 22, which, in the case illustrated, is a flap valve pivoted at 23 and provided with a latch hook 2Q. A spring 25, e. g., as shown in Fig. 3, holds the valve member 22 closed.

When the valve 22 is in the closed position the latch hook 213 is held by the latch member 26 which, in the embodiment shown, is pivoted eccentrically at 2l' and Weighted as shown at 28 so as to be balanced with respect to weight on the pivot 2l. The shape and position of the latch member 26 preferably is such that it swings free of all other surfaces. This latch 26 is provided with a peripheral rim 29 which catches the contents when the bottle is inverted and opens the latch by the weight and inertia thereof. In the case illustrated a raised portion of this rim at 29 serves as a catch to engage the hook 2li. It does noty form a liquidtight closure within the inner chamber, but on the contrary is intended to swing freely regardless of pressure conditions. It is made as light as possible so that it will be opened by the last small amount of material left in the bottle, and cannot be opened by inertia.

If the hook 2d is undercut very slightly as shown in Figs. l and 10 or provided with a substantial area for friction engagement and the latch member 2t is made suliciently lighter than the valve 22, any attempt to open the latch by spinning the bottle about the axis 2 will be foiled by the centrifugal force of the valve 22 exerted, on the hook 2@ and serving to hold the latch 2S engaged. Or if for any reason it is not desired to rely upon this relationship between the relative weights of the members 22 and 25, the former may be made as a oat, e. g., of cork or balsa wood, preferably covered with metal, e. g., aluminum foil or thin sheet, or hollow, so that when liquid is present in the outer chamber the valve member 22 will be forced closed by spinning of the bottle on any axis, because the centrifugal force on the light valve member will be overbalanced by the force of the heavier liquid.

A stop 36 and springs 3l serve to hold the latch member 26 in the position indicated. The springs 3! like the spring 25 are of tension su i-- cient to return the member 22 to the position shown.

A projection 35 on the casing le serves as a baiile to require the flow of any liquid tending to re-enter the container to strike against the back of the Valve member 22 and thereby to close said member securely by the inertia of the owing liquid, and to deflect further any instrument for opening the valve, if it could be inserted this far.

A partition 35 in the outer chamber is parallel to but not in contact with the valve 22 when fully open and serves to lessen the volume of liquid behind the valve.

A small pressure relief valve 3l is provided in the casing it and is held closed under normal conditions by the spring 33, but is opened by extraordinary pressures to prevent any strain of the valve 22 which might cause it to leak. A hole 3Q in the partition i5 is provided to communicate with the valve El.

A shelf or bafe may be provided to direct the new of liquid against the latch member 2S and thus further assure the release of the valve under all conditions.

The casing ii may be secured in the neck of the mouth of the bottle by grooves and lock washers as indicated at si, or may be held solely by the guard member l5.

The t between the casing it and the inside of the bottle neck or mouth need not be a liquid tight or seal t, but may be sufficiently loose to permit venting oi excess pressure around the casing it, so that in no case will excessive pressure build up on either side. In order to prevent reilling of the bottle through this venting passage gasket washers d are provided which are preferably made of wood or other material which will swell when exposed to a liquid, and thus, although ordinarily being sufiiciently loose to permit slow leakage of vapors or gas will form a perfeet seal against passage or liquids. ture, however, is not essential to my invention and the casing it may be ground or cemented or otherwise ntted into the mouth of the bottle so as to form a perfect seal, or the washers ft2 may be adapte-d to seal the casing to the bottle under all conditions.

In the use of this embodiment of the invention pouring is preferably accomplished with the section shown in Fig. 3 vertical, or approximately so. In this position air is more easily vented back into the bottle simultaneously with the flowing out of liquid from the bottle. However, the bottle will pour from any position.

The contents, when the bottle is first tilted to' a pouring position, exert a force against the latch member 255 which, being unbalanced as to area with respect to the pivot 2l, will be swung thereby so as to release the latch from the hook 2li. Thereupon the force of the contents against the valve member 22 will open it and permit the contents to flow out through the aperture 2i and the outer chamber and through the guard member l5. As soon as the ilow stops, whether because the bottle is returned to its upright position, or because the bottle is empty, the members 22 and 2S are immediately returned to the closed position shown in Fig. 1 and interlocked.

The valve cannot be manipulated from the outside without breaking the guard l5, because there is no possibility of inserting any instrument through the perforations and staggered baies of this guard and around the baiile member 35. As alreadystated, it is impossible to open the valve for insertion of liquids by means of inertia. Inertia in any straight line will be ineffective because of the fact that the latch member 25 is balanced with respect to its pivot and the moments of inertia will, therefore, be equally exerted on each side of the pivot and will have no tendency to release the latch. An angular acceleration or deceleration about the pivot 2l might tend to release the latch and by centrifugal force to throw open the valve member 22, but as already explained, the greater weight or the low specific gravity of the member 22 serve respectively either to lock the latch, or, as soon as any heavier liquid is placed in the outer chamber, to close the valve This eaf tudinally of the neck of the bottle.

sure exerted upon the liquid will only serve more tightly to close the valve. Likewise, suction exerted upon the mouth of the bottle will be ineffective to open the valve 22 because of the latch 2G and although it may possibly cause a slight outward leakage in the valve due to play in the latch, a release of the suction or exerting of pressure on the liquid will immediately close the valve again.

Pressure exerted within the container e. g., by heating, can have no more effect than suction outside. Since the latch member 26 does not form a tight valve no amount of gaseous pressure could release it because such pressure would be exerted equally on both sides.

If the container and its contents are to be sold outright to the general public, so that it is not desired to refill the container at any time, the guard members I5, I6 and II are advantageously,

permanently secured in the mouth of the container so that destruction both of the guard members and of the container itself will result from any attempt to obtain access to the valve device. This can be accomplished, for example, by the use of suitable cement, as already known to the art, (shown at 53 in Fig. 5) or by molding the guard member I5b with a thin edge 44 overhanging the edge IIb of the container so that the two may be readily fused together by locally applied heat after the container is filled.

If the bottles are to be used only by dealers or customers, so that it is desirable to have them returned for refilling, the guard member I5 is advantageously permanently secured in place so as to require its destruction in order to attain access to the valve device but to permit its destruction without destruction of the container itself. The guard I5 in this case carries a trademark or other indication of genuineness and may be molded of a glass or other material of which the source can be controlled or with colors which are expensive or difcult to reproduce. The guard I5 in this case may be secured in place, for example, as shown in Fig. 1 by means of a locking ring 45.

In the above I have described only the case in which the flap valve 22 is positioned longi- This arrangement is advantageous especially because it permits of a larger aperture 2| since in such case the dimensions of this aperture are not limited by the width of the neck of the bottle. It is to be understood, however, that my invention is not limited to this arrangement and to illustrate this, I have shown in Fig. 7 a modified form of my invention in Which the valve member 22a is positioned transversely of the bottle neck.

In this embodiment as in the other embodiments of my invention I have combined a oneway flap valve 22a with a latching member 26a which is balanced as to its own mass but unbalanced as to the forces exerted thereon due to the mass of the contents of the bottle when tilted to pouring position. The principle of operation of this device is substantially the same as that of the device shown in Fig. l and to the corresponding parts I have given corresponding numbers with the special designation "a. where these parts have been modified,

In Fig. 7, I have also illustrated an alternative mounting of the device on the bottle by which instead of fitting the casing I4 within the neck of the bottle it is extended over the neck of the bottle and secured thereto, e. g., by spinning into a groove as shown at 5B.

The guard member I5a and the bales I6 and IIa are preferably of glass and inserted from the inside end of the casing 5I. This casing 5I might be an extension of the casing Illa, but for convenience it is, in the present embodiment, a sleeve which extends over the guard member I5a, and the casing Ida., and secures them, as already described, to the bottle neck at 50.

The opening ZIa in the transverse partition 20a. extends nearly the full width of the casing I4a on the diameter shown, but the width of this opening on a perpendicular diameter is, of course, substantially less than the full diameter of the casing, in order to permit the valve 22a to swing downwardly within the outer chamber without interference from the curved sides thereof.

In Fig. 8 I have illustrated another alternative construction in which the latching member 2Gb engages directly an extension 55 on the valve member 22h. In this figure also I have shown the bottle neck extended at 5B for reception of a cork 51 instead of providing threads I2 for a screw cap as in the other figures. Otherwise, the parts indicated by corresponding numbers serve functions corresponding to those of Figs. l to 7 inclusive.

In Fig. 9 I have shown still another embodiment of my invention in which the latch member 25o instead of being independently pivoted is pivotally secured through the link 60 to the valve member 22C.

In the position shown the latch member 26o is held by the shoulders 6I and the stop 65, since any pull exerted by the valve member 22e through the link 6G will tend to pull the latch member 26e toward the right and therefore against the stop 65. Because of this stop the latch member cannot clear the shoulder 6I and therefore cannot pass through the throat 52.

The latch member 26o in this case, as in the cases illustrated in the figures already described, is advantageously balanced as to mass, but unbalanced as to area, so that when the bottle is tipped to pouring position the force of the contents striking against the larger right hand side of the member 26o will tend to push the i right hand side down along the shoulder until the latch member is tilted sufficiently to pass through the throat 62. When thus released the valve 22o may drop open and the contents flow freely from the bottle.

While the valve 22o remains in the open position, the link 60 is held against the stop 64 by the compression spring 63, and the latch member 25e is held with its left hand end against the shoulder 6I by means of the spring 3Ic. When the valve 22o is returned to its closed position the right hand end of the member 26o rst strikes beneath the shoulder 6I and forces the swing link 60 to swing toward the left until the member 26e clears the right hand shoulder 6I. When this occurs the member 26o snaps upwardly against the stop 65 and the valve 22o is thereupon locked closed in the position and the relation shown in Fig. 9.

Although in the above I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention and suggested various modifications thereof, I have not attempted to describe every modification or variation within the scope of my invention, but rather to illustrate the invention and the best Cil Way of applying and utilizing the same and to tion of contents therein which comprises a casing adapted to t into theneck of the container against a shoulder formed therein, and having inner and outer chambers therein connected by an aperture; a one-way valve parallel to the sides of the container adapted to seal said aperture against return ofw of liquid, a pivoted member balanced on its pivot as to mass but not as to area, positioned at an angle toI the valve, adapted toV control the operation of the valve t prevent opening of the valve except after operation of said member itself, and to be operated itself only by the contents of the container; spring means adapted to close the valve, spring means adapted to move the control member to its position for effective control; a projection on the casing of the outer chamber which guides against the back of the valve the flow of any liquid, or implement entering from outside the container, such Contact thus tending to close said valve member; a partition in the outer chamber, parallel to but not in Contact with the back of the valve when fully opened; a pressure release valve, liquid tight when closed; spring means adapted to hold said valve closed; a pressure equalizing vent between the: inner and outer chambers and means associated with said vent adapted to swell on contact with liquid and thereby to seal the vent against passage of liquid therethrough; a guard, permanently secured to the mouth of the container to prevent manipulation of and tampering with said valve, said guard comprising a plurality of discs spaced apart and leaving non-aligned passages for liquid flow; cooperating annular grooves on the inside of the neck oi the container and the adjacent surface of a part held therein, and a lock Washer engaged in said grooves to hold the casing and guard securely and irremovably within the neck of the container and to permit them to be easily pushed into place after the container has been filled.

2. In a liquid container having an aperture for emptying the contents therefrom a device for preventing refilling and substitution which comprises a one-way valve adapted normally to close said aperture but to be opened by the force of the contents thereagainst, a latch adapted ncrmally to lock said valve in closed position but responsive to the force of the contents thereon Within the container to release said valve, means adapted to close said valve and said latch, and guard means secured over the mouth of the container beyond said closure adapted to prevent manipulation thereof and tampering therewith, said latch being a pivoted member balanced with respect to its pivot so that straight line acceleration in any direction will have no tendency to disengage it from the valve.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2 in which the latch includes a pivoted shelf positioned inwardly from the one-way valve and is balanced with respect to its pivot so that straight-line acceleration in any direction will have no tendency to release said latch, and the one-way valve is a movable member closed by movement toward said latch pivot and including a oat whereby an attempt to release the latch `and valve by angular acceleration about the pivot will not permit insertion of contents of higher specific gravity into the container because the centrifugal force thereof will serve to close the. lighter valve.

4. In a container having an aperture for emptying the contents therefrom a device. for preventing reiilling and substitution which comprises a one-way valve adapted normally to| close said aperture but when released to be opened by the force of the contents thereagainst when the container is tilted to pouring position; a latch adapted normally to lock said valve in closed position but which latch is responsive to the force thereon of the contents; of the container when it is tilted to pouring position, whereby to release said valve from said latch; and guard means secured over the mouth of the container beyond said valve adapted to prevent manipulation thereof and tampering therewith, said one-way valve being of lower specific gravity than the contents of the container,` whereby the valve will be held closed upon an attempt to insert liquid from the outside regardless of its position.

5. In a liquid container having an aperture for emptying the contents therefrom, a device for preventing refilling which comprises a oneway valve adapted normally to close said aperture but, when released, to be opened by the force exerted thereagainst by the contents of the container when it is tilted to pouring position; a catch thereon; a latch member situated inwardly from the valve and having means which engages the latch to lock the valve in its closed position and is responsive to the force of the contents of the container, when the container is tilted to a pouring position, to disengage the valve and permit it to function; means adapted to return said valve and latch member each to the locking position; and guard means secured over the mouth of the container beyond said valve adapted to prevent manipulation thereof and. tampering therewith, said catch being undercut and said valve being heavier than the latch member.

6. In a container a device for preventing rei lling and substitution which comprises a casing adapted to fit in the neck of the container and having a longitudinal partition forming two chambers therein connected by an aperture through said partition, one of said chambers opening into the container and the other opening to the outside; a longitudinally arranged iiap valve associated with said aperture adapted to open under force exerted thereon by the contents of the container; a latch member transversely positioned in the inner chamber, adapted to lock the valve closed against forces, directly applied to the valve, but to be actuated to release said valve by force exerted by the contents of the container upon said latch member; and means adapted to return said valve and said latch to their respective closed and locking positions.

7. The combination as deiined in claim 6 which further includes a pressure equalizing vent between said chambers: and means associated with said vent adapted to swell upon contact with liquid whereby toI prevent passage of liquid through the vent.

BRUCE W. DENNIS. 

